Contesting a Will in Victoria: The Rules That Decide Your Claim

Which rules apply to your family

Most of what you will read online about contesting a will was written for New South Wales or Queensland, and it will mislead you on the two points that decide the most claims: how long you have, and whether you can claim at all.

If the deceased lived in Victoria, or the estate’s assets sit here, your claim runs under Victoria’s Administration and Probate Act in the Supreme Court of Victoria. This page sets out how the Victorian rules bite. For the wider picture first, what a claim is worth and how one runs, start with our contesting a will page and come back here for the deadlines.

Not sure which rules apply to your family? Call 1800 130 120 and we will tell you in a few minutes, free.

The six-month clock, precisely

The rule itself is short. You must apply within six months after the grant of probate or letters of administration. The detail underneath it is what decides real cases.

Time runs from the grant, not from the death. Families often assume the clock started at the funeral, and it did not. If probate has not been granted yet, your six months have not started, which means early advice can be calm and strategic instead of a scramble. We can monitor the probate records and tell you the day a grant is made.

The Supreme Court may extend the period where it considers that appropriate, and it can do so even after the six months have expired. Distribution is the real cut-off. Any extension application has to be made before the estate is finally distributed, and no order can disturb assets that were properly paid out before you applied.

Once six months have passed, the law shields an executor who distributes the estate. That is where the deadline gets its teeth, because it marks the point at which the money can lawfully leave.

Families ask us whether the deadline can be extended. The more useful question is usually whether there will be anything left to claim against, because an extension granted over an estate that has already been paid out is worth very little.

Are you on Victoria’s list?

Victoria works from a defined list of eligible people, and it is shorter than most families assume. Spouses and domestic partners can claim, as can former spouses and partners in defined circumstances, children, stepchildren and adopted children, registered caring partners, and grandchildren or household members who were dependent on the deceased. Adult children clear eligibility and then face extra hurdles on top of it. The dependency categories need evidence rather than assertion.

Sitting outside the list closes off a Part IV claim, though it does not always end the matter. Promises the deceased made and broke, jointly held assets and contributions to property can each ground a different sort of claim. Who fits which category, and what the court weighs for each, is covered on our family provision claims page.

What this means for you this week

Work out three dates: the date of death, the date of any grant of probate, and today. If a grant is more than four months old you are in the danger zone and should call now. If no grant has been made yet, you have room to prepare properly, gathering the will, your financial position and the family history so you can file early rather than at the deadline. Either way it starts with the same free call, and it costs you nothing to know exactly where your six months stand.

Get a Victorian answer, today

Call 1800 130 120 or send the form on this page with GET FREE ADVICE. We check the grant date, confirm eligibility under the Victorian list, and give you a straight answer on the same call. If your matter runs into the mechanics of probate itself, our probate lawyers page covers that ground, and our wills dispute lawyers handle the executor fights and validity challenges that so often arrive with it.